Fountain curling rod



n 1952 J. s. BERMAN ET AL FOUNTAIN CURLING ROD Filed Aug. 15, 1949 INVENTORS Patented June 17, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOUNTAIN CURLING ROD Jean S. Berman, Elsie L. Berman and Oscar A. Berman, New York, N. Y.

Application August 15, 1949, Serial No. 110,422

. 3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to improvements in curling rods, and particularly to rods provided with fountains for holding the chemicals or other substances to be applied to the hair for curling, waving, softening, neutralizing or otherwise affecting the condition or the hair. I

Curling and waving of hair has become a very important activity of beauty parlors throughout the world. On account of the comparatively large amounts charged by beauty parlors for both. temporary and so-called permanent waves, millions of women have learned to curl and wave their own hair. In recent years various manufacturing concerns have devised so-called kits for home use, these kits usually containing chemicals for softening and curling the hair, and more recently also curling rods of various types to be used in conjunction with these chemicals.

Curling "rods are various types of elongated members on which the hair is 'rolled to form curls. The various types usually provide some manner of clamping the formed curls to hold them in position during the application'of the various chemicals intended to soften the hair, to neutralize it after a certain degree of softening has been attained and to set it more or less permanently in the form in which it is wound on the rods.

It is generally characteristic of all the beauty shop and the home processes for the chemicals to be daubed on the formed curls. The daubing process is a lengthy one. To cut down the time and the labor in continually daubing the hair with the chemicals, it is an object of our invention to provide a fountain in a perforated case longitudinally through the center of the unit forming our invention, so that gravity and capillary attraction will supply a continuing flow of the chemicals being used. The daubing process may also be used with our invention if desired in special cases or for special purposes or to achieve certain special results, but even with the usual daubing process our invention is of special value because daubing usually results in large amounts of excess chemicals running over the faces and bodies of the women whose hair is'being waved or curled. This is not only very unpleasant, but may be quite injurious to the skin and the eyes, as in many instances the waving and curling solutions used contain strong chemicals which, to say the least, are not conducive to-beautifying the skin or benefitin the eyes.

jI'o .avoid the splashingand running of the 2 excess chemicals not absorbed by the hair in the daubing process, our invention provides, even when the fountain is not being used, a pad of foam rubber, sponge'rubber, cotton fiber, paper or some other absorbent material to absorb the excess.

These pads not only absorb the excess chemicals and prevent them from splashing and running over the body and even the clothing of the wearer, they also conserve these chemicals by retaining them to continue their effect on the hair and thereby shorten the time required to soften, to neutralize or to set the waves or curls.

These pads also provide a means of applying the chemicals without the daubing process or the use of the fountain, as they may be impregnated with the chemicals before the curls are formed. Furthermore our pads may be supplied in home waving kits impregnated ready for use either on rods supplied with the "kits, or on any rods preferred by the person whose hair is to be curled. When so impregnated they are packed in Pliofilm or other water and chemical proof bags or cartons to avoid leakage.

To make our pads applicable to any kind of rods. we provide them in one piece form to slide over the rods where the rods are of such shape or construction to permit this. Foam or sponge rubber has enough elasticity to permit our pads made of them toslide over most "rods but pads of absorbent paper do not have such elasticity and some rods have sharp points to catch the hair. These points might tend to tear our pad if forced over them. For such application we split our pad in half and apply adhesive to the edges of each half. This adhesive dries and does not cause attachment to any other object. But when two halves are placed around a rod and the edges pressed together, the edges adhere and bond the two halves together to form a tight cover for the rod, but the seams will yield to a strong separating pull and the halves are, therefore, as easy to remove from the rod as they are easy to apply, regardless of the shape or construction of the rod.

Another advantage in the use of our pad in our invention or in connection with any rod, is that, being resilient, the curl can be wound tightly enough to compress the pad, thereby providing more room for the hair in the center of the pad to hold the greater amount of hair which naturally falls there and less room at the sides where the hair is thinner. Our pad also tends to expand to firmly retain both the heavy and the thinner strands of hair in their proper position. Where an ordinary rod is used without our pad there is no such expandability and there is a tendency for the hair to spring out of the curl into which it has been formed and assume a less desirable form.

It is another object of our invention to provide a curling rod in which even a thin tress can be easily secured to the rod, and then the rod spun with the fingers to quickly wind the curl thereon and secure it firmly regardless of thickness of the curl.

It is another object of our invention to provide rods into which cartridges of chemicals may be easily inserted, and the cartridges perforated after all curls have been formed, thereby making it possible to apply chemicals practically simultaneously to all curls and to assure the same degree of exposure of the chemicals to all parts of the hair over the entire head. These "cartridges have the advantage over pre-impregnated pads in that they are much thinner, take up less space, and like capsules, are easily filled and packed. 7

Although our invention is capable of application to both machine waving as employed in beauty parlors and cold permanent waving as employed both in professional and in home waving, it is of special value as one of the items in a home permanent waving kit for use in the process commonly referred to as cold permanent Waving.

In ordinary cold permanent waving of hair, the hair is divided into a large number of individual tresses which are wound upon curling rods and thoroughly saturated with a waving solution. After the solution has remained on the wound tress for a predetermined period of time, the wound tress is subjected to the application of a neutralizing solution to wash out the waving solution. In use, the curling rod is held at its ends and applied to the free end of a hair tress. It is then rolled between the fingers inwardly towards the scalp to wind the hair tress thereon. Such winding necessarily places the hair tress under considerable tension with the result that the hair tress is tightly wound upon the rod.

Because a tightly wound curl impedes the penetration of the waving and neutralizing solutions to the innermost strands of hair in the curl being processed, it is advisable to provide means whereby the wound tress of hair may be loosened sufficiently to facilitate the free flow of the solutions therethrough. This desired degree of penetration of the solutions is accomplished by the use of a curling rod embodying features of the present invention, the tension of the curl being controlled by the flexibility of the absorbent pad upon which the curl is wound, the pad facilitating complete saturation of the waving solutions throughout the entire body of the curl.

Another object of the invention is to provide a curling rod with readily removable, and at the same time flexible, means to clamp a hair tress to the rod preliminary to the winding of said tress thereon, and to secure a hair tress wound thereon against unwinding.

Another object of our invention is to provide a curling rod having all the advantages set forth herein, and at the same time to provide a simple, inexpensive and durable hair curler, the frame of which can be made entirely of plastic materials.

The usual hair curlers are made of metal parts. These parts, together with the pins used to hold them together, frequently present burrs or rough edges which are likely to cut the hair. According to the present invention, no metal parts are used, and the only surfaces which come in contact with the hair are of smooth plastic, cotton fiber, sponge rubber or other non-injurious material.

Another object of our invention is to provide an inexpensive, durable, and lightweight device of this character which may be quickly and easily applied, will not slip or work out of place, is as nearly as possible invisible, and is adapted to fit snugly against the head whether a womans hair is thick or thin.

Other advantages of our invention will become apparent from a study of the detailed description of the drawings in which similar numerals refer to corresponding elements, and in which:

Figure l is an enlarged plan view of our invention.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal cross sectional view of the device shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the rod or core shown in cross section in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view of the left hand handle taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a cross sectional view of the right hand handle taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is an elevational view looking at one end of the device;

Figure 7 is an end elevational view looking at the opposite end from Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a cross sectional view, partly broken away, showing how the tubular member or rod snaps into the left hand handle.

Figure 9 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the tubular member or rod and the socket in the left hand end portion.

Figure 10 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the same cross section shown in Figure 9 with the locking means set to stop revolution.

Figure 11 is a perspective view of a bar-clamp for starting a curl.

In the structure, I is the left hand end portion or handle; 2 the right hand end portion or handle; 3 the tubular curl former, rod or core; 4 the absorbent pad surrounding the core; 6 the legs or bearing members formed by the splitting of the left end of the core 3; 5 the space between the legs 6; I the arcuate ends of the legs 6, forming a collar, plug or stud; 8 the socket in handle I, in which the collar, plug or stud, formed by the arcuate ends I, revolves when the core 3 is turned; 9 the threads on the right end of the core which cooperate with the threads 10 in the handle 2; Na and l2b are the slots in the flanges in handle 2, and Ba and [3b the slots in the flanges in the handle I, in which the bars I4 snap in, their ball terminals clipping into the sockets l2a, I212, I311 and I31); I! is the outline of the capsule of chemicals that may be inserted into the perforated tubular body 3 forming the core or rod; IB is the solid end of rod 3, which serves also to retain the chemicals in the core; I9 is the screw which is turned to project into the space 5 between the legs 6, or into the intervening spaces 20, 2|, 22, 23, 24 or 25 in the legs 6 to lock the rod 3 to prevent revolution after the curl winding process has been completed.

In operation the tubular element 3 forming the core or rod is snapped into handle I by the insertion'of the collar, plug or stud formed by the split walls of handle I surrounding socket 8, serving as a bearing for collar 1.

Thereupon-pad 4 is slipped over the threaded end ,9 of the core 3, or two half pads 4 are joined a oun c re Qo 3 s than fil ed with th p ticular chemica to be used o a c d e ll of chemical i inserted into care-. and e 3 is then sc ewed nto handle 2 at he threads n I0.

A tress of hair is then started around the pad 4, the end of the tress being clamped thereto by pressing the teeth of bar 21 into the pad. 'I hereupon the handle 2: is rolled inwardly toward the scalp to wind the tress thereon. As the tension in winding increases the pad 4 yields and with it bar 21. Because the tress of hair is heavier at its center, the pad 4 tends to yield more at its center, the outside of the wound curl tending to remain parallel with the core 3 so that when the tress has been fully wound on the pad 4, it is easily clamped into position by snapping bar I4 in slots I2a and l3a or [212 and l3b in the flanges of handles 2 and I, depending on the size of the curl to be secured.

To clamp bar 14 into whichever slots will best hold the curl, the flexible plastic material of which bar 14 is made is curved b taking the bar in the hand and pulling it near the center with the middle finger between the thumb and the outside of the bent-over little finger, and held in this curved position until the ball terminals [5 of said bar are inserted in the slots, whereupon the middle finger is Withdrawn, bar I4 resumes its normal straight form and clamps the whole tress against the pad 4.

Back-revolution is prevented by turning screw l9 into the nearest recess 2Q, 2|, 22, 23, 24 or 25 in legs 6 of core 3.

Handles l and 2 constitute the frame for our hair curling device, The concave flanges, forming slots Ilia, [2b, 13a and 13b, are adapted to admit bar clamps easily, but hold them securely. The arcuate collar 1 at one end of the rod is adapted to revolve easily in socket 8 of handle I, but to fit snugly enough to hold the end portions, or handles, practically at right angles to the tubular body 3, forming the core or rod. While this tubular body is shown perforated to permit of its use as a fountain or a holder for a cartridge l1, it should be understood that our hair curl former may also be used in the old fashioned way without making use of the fountain or cartridge. For such use the core need not be perforated and the pad may be omitted. Our device without these features still possesses unique improvements over other hair curlers. We therefore, claim each individual improvement separately from our device as a whole, these improvements being definitely set out in our claims.

When our device is used with a cartridge I1, the cartridge may be punctured after the pad ha been applied and before the winding process has begun, or if desired, the curl may be completely formed first, daubed with chemicals and the cartridge containing the same chemicals then punctured by projecting a long pin through one to the hair.

or more of the perforations in the .comnumber of punctures to'be made is determined by theoperators judgment of how speedily .or slowly the liquid should penetrate the pad and continue Many considerations enter into a determination of the amount of time that should be allowed.

- In the judgment of the operator, the procedure for curling may entail the old fashioned daubing process for applying certain chemicals, tobe fol-.- lowed by fountain application of a neutralizer in.- side the curl by puncturing a previously inserted cartridge containing the neutralizer.

Similarly an operator may prefer to use the fountain featureof our device without using a cartridge, by filling the perforated core-after the pad has been applied, winding the curl and omitting the daubing process entirely.

The nature of the hair to be curled, the result to. be achieved, the knowledge, understanding and skill of theoperator, and other conditionsmust be taken into consideration in getting the best re- .Slllts from the various facilities afforded by the different combinations possible in our device.

The hereinbefore described construction admits of considerable modification without departing from the invention. Therefore, we do not wish to be limited to the precise arrangements shown and described, which are presented merely by way of illustration, and the scope of protection contemplated is to be taken solely from the appended claims.

It should, therefore, be understood that the particular embodiment of our invention disclosed herein being illustrative only, our inven-- tion is not limited thereto, and that changes and variations in the size, shape and location of elements may all be resorted to without departing from the spirit of our invention and the scope of our claims. For to others skilled in the art it will appear from our invention and disclosure that many variations and modifications may be made without copying the specific structure shown, therefore, we claim all such variations and modifications insofar as they fall within the reasonable spirit and scope of our appended claims.

We claim:

1. A hair curling device comprising a tubular perforate rod adapted to house a chemical, said rod having an externally threaded imperforate end, an annular collar threaded on said end concentric to the rod, the opposing end of said rod being compressible and having bearing members formed thereon, a second collar rotatably arranged on said bearing members and disposed in cooperative parallelism to said first collar, a handle secured to said second collar and provided with a socket for receiving said bearing members each of said collars having inwardly facing locking flanges, and compressible locking rods engageable at their opposing ends in the flanges to,

lock wrapped strands of hair on the rod after rotation of the rod about the bearing members in the second collar to wind the hair strands thereon.

2. A hair curling device comprising a tubular perforate rod adapted to house a chemical, said rod having an externally threaded imperforate end, an annular collar threaded on said end concentric to the rod, the opposing end of said rod bein compressible and having bearing members formed thereon, a second collar rotatably arranged on said bearings members and disposed in cooperative parallelism to said first collar, a handle secured to said collar and provided with a socket for receiving said bearing members each of said collars'having inwardly facing locking flanges, compressible locking rods engageable at their opposing ends in the flanges to lock wrapped strands of hair on the rod after rotation of the rod about the bearing members in the second collar to wind the hair strands thereon, and means for locking said second collar and rod against rotation, said last means including a set screw radially disposed in the second collar and means spacedly'formed in the rod for the reception of the screw.

3. A hair curling device comprising a tubular perforate rod adapted to house a chemical hair lotion, said rod having an externally threaded imperforate end, a collar threaded on said end, a flange laterally projecting from said collar, said opposing end of the rod being longitudinally slit for compression and bearing means formed on said opposing end, a member receiving said end and engaging for rotation said bearing means, said member having a lateral flange, said flanges having locking means formed on their opposing faces and compressible locking means detachably mounted in said locking means for securing hair strands on the rods.

JEAN S. BERMAN.

EISIE L. BERMAN.

OSCAR A. BERMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,013,311 Lakenbach Sept. 3, 1935 2,076,521 List Apr. 6, 1937 2,331,578 Sterling Oct. 12, 1943 2,400,102 Casieri May 14, 1946 2,432,585 Pohl Dec. 16, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 198,047 Great Britain May 23, 1923 514,361 Germany Dec. 15, 1930 

